Raritan Mainenance Issue

[steve stark]

Welcome back, Peggy. Firstly, thank you for all of your years of service here that have certainly served us well on Starbright. On your recommendation, we installed the PHC LBA from this site on our old Jabsco bowl with beautiful results. Maintenance over the last 5 years has gone well, with the only regular replacement being the Joker Valve every 2 years. Following the recommendations in v1 of your book.

Last year I sprung for the full rebuild kit. The rebuild went well, but only a few months into use, we began to experience the dreaded burbling back into the bowl symptom. At first, I concluded there must be a blockage in the outlet line or tank vent, but before going there, I removed the LBA to look at the flapper. It was horribly distorted in shape after only a few months and not seating well, and the new Joker was also distorted beyond normal. So, I have replace them to good effect - everything working well. The question remains, though, what might have caused the premature failure of the flapper? It was installed in the correct orientation, the nylon spacers were in place, and PTFE lube was used liberally throughout the pump re-assembly. The only thing I can think of is maybe I overtightened the LBA hold-downs, but it seems the nylon spacers would protect against that being a problem.

Anyway, fingers crossed, but would be interested in your opinion.

 

[Peggie Hall HeadMistress]

If you've followed my recommendation to flush a cupful of distilled while vinegar through the system to prevent mineral buildup, but overlooked the part where it says "do not leave vinegar sitting in bowl because soft rubber (your joker valve and flapper is soft rubber) will swell and distort when allowed to soak in vinegar," that would explain it. If not vinegar, what HAVE you allowed to stand in the bowl or used to clean it?

 

[steve stark]

Thanks for the quick response, Peggy. We have not used vinegar for buildup prevention. We replaced the hose last year with T101 and have not yet started that regimen.

Our use model is: we use seawater for flush is small amounts, after dry-pump. At the end of every outing we dry-pump 25 pumps for our 8 foot run and 3 foot rise, pump out the holding tank, pump a gallon or two through the system with Odorlos, then leave the boat with nothing in the bowl. Since changing the valves, we have started to leave a bit of CP with the dregs of freshwater in the bottom of the exit channel as a preventative.

With new hoses, I guess we'd better start a vinegar regimen.

Seem OK?

 

[Peggie Hall HeadMistress]

That rules out vinegar and I KNOW that neither Odorlos nor C.P. can be the culprit....yet the only thing that can do that to rubber is a chemical reaction. Did anyone on board--a guest maybe--have disposed of something by flushing it down the toilet without letting you know (it's amazing what people will flush at home, and on a boat if they don't know any better. You've had some really torrential weather in your part of the country...is it possible that an overflow or rupture of something on land could have put highly acidic runoff into the water? Anyone else in your marina experienced the same problem?
I admit I'm grasping at straws here....give Jerry at Raritan a call to see if anyone else has reported a similar problem 800-352-5630 x 236

 

[steve stark]

Thank you for the contact, Peggy; I shall endeavor to follow up. I am not at all disappointed in the Raritan performance, just a bit curious about this anomaly. Your hypothesis about the runoff is interesting. Starbright is in somewhat brackish water at the outlet of two freshwater creeks in our harbor, so runoff is a possibility. Your suggestion spurs another thought in me as well.... For the last 2 summers in Puget Sound, there has been a horrendously large set of algae blooms. One such "red" bloom actually stained the plastic bowl on my Sherwood raw water strainer with only a couple of weeks exposure. I'll have to do a little research, but it occurs to me that these organisms may be very pH imbalanced - be it acidic or alkaline. The flapper may have been exposed for a couple of weeks. Hmmm..

Anyway, thanks for your observations, I shall continue the hunt.

 

[Peggie Hall HeadMistress]

Interesting...please do keep me posted on what you learn!